The Diverging Convergence in ICT-driven Employment Relations = A Comparative Case Study of Korean Call Centers

국문 초록 (Abstract)

이 연구는 금융 및 통신서비스업에서 4개의 사례연구를 통하여 새롭게 등장하는 콜센터고용관계를 규명하고 있다. 정보통신기술(ICT)에 의해 영향을 받는 콜센터 작업장은 서비스 노동에 대한 본질과 고용관계의 특성에 대해 연구할 수 있는 중요한 계기를 제공한다. 이번 비교연구를 통하여 한국의 콜센터 고용관계가 소위 ‘저임금모델’에 수렴하고 있는 것으로 나타나는데, 세부적으로는 고용관계의 외부화, 전자감시, 관료적 감독, 그리고 서비스 품질을 강조하는 모니터링 체계의 특성을 가지고 있다. 이러한 수렴 현상은 동시에, 고용관계의 세부 차원을 구성하는 숙련형성 정도, 비정규직 활용 형태, 작업통제, 경력개발 등에서 업종별 또는 회사별 차이를 보이고 있기도 하다. 이러한 분화 현상의 원인으로는 각 콜센터 운영에서의 위험도와 복잡성의 정도, 그 회사 서비스 제품의 특성, 시장경쟁, 고객행동, 정부의 규제 등을 지적할 수 있다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper examines work and employment relations in call centers by drawing upon a case study of four different companies in the financial and telecommunications services. The call center industry, as a newly emerging sector driven by ICTs(Information and Communication Technologies), provides useful insights to explore how service work is organized as well as what consist of new employment relations. Our comparative study finds commonalities that employment systems of Korean call centers are converging toward a variant of low wage model which comprises externalization of employment relations, electronic work control, bureaucratic supervision, and quality-focused performance monitoring. At the same time, there are some inter-sectoral variations in the type of non-regular workers used, the extent of skill training, work control, and career development. This divergence can be explained by varying complexity and risks of their respective call center operations, such as the nature of service products, market competition, customer behavior, and statutory regulations.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. Introduction
• Ⅱ. Literature Review
• Ⅲ. Profile of Four Case Companies in Comparison
• Ⅳ. Commonalities of Employment Relations at the Korean Call Centers
• Ⅴ. Variations of Employment Relations in the Korean Call Center
• Ⅵ. Conclusion
• Reference
• abstract

참고문헌 (Reference)

• 1 Thompson, P, "Workplaces of theFuture" London: Macmillan 1998
• 2 Batt, R, "Work Organization, Technology, and Performance in Customer Service and Sales" 52 (52): 1999
• 3 Belt, V, "Women, Social Skill and Interactive Service Work in Telephone Call Centers" 17 (17): 2002
• 4 Menzies, H, "Whose Brave New World? the Information Superhighway and the New Economy" Toronto: Between the Lines.S 1996
• 5 Wallace, M, "The Sacrificial HR Strategy in Call Centers" 11 (11): 2000
• 6 Korczynski, M, "The Contradictions of Service Work: Call Centre as Customer-oriented Bureaucracy" London: Macmillan 2001
• 7 Houlihan, M, "Tensions and Variations in Call Centre Management Strategies" 12 (12): 2002
• 8 Batt, R, "Strategic Segmentation in Front-Line Services: Matching Customers, Employees and Human Resource Systems" 11 (11): 2000
• 9 Korczynski, M, "Service Work in Service Work in Consumer Capitalism: Customers, Control and Contradictions" 14 (14): 2000
• 10 Keltner, B, "Relationship Banking and Competitive Advantage: Evidence from the US and Germany" 37 : 1995
• 11 Holtgrewe, U, "Re-organizing Service Work: Call centers in Germany and Britain" Burlington: Ashgate 2002
• 12 Shire, K, "Re-Organising Customer Service Work: An Introduction" Burlington: Ashgate 2002
• 13 Alferoff, C, "Quality Time and the Beautiful Call" Burlington: Ashgate 2002
• 14 Hunter, L, "Opening the Box: Information Technology, Work Practices and Wages" 56 (56): 2003
• 15 Frenkel, S, "On the Front Line: Organization of Work in the Information Economy" Ithaca: Cornell Press 1999
• 16 Batt, R, "How and When Does Management Matter: Job quality and Career Opportunities for Call Center Workers" New York: Russell Sage Foundation 2003
• 17 Garson, "How Computers are Transforming the Office of the Future into the Factory of the Past" 1988
• 18 Fernie, S, "Hanging on the Telephone: Payment Systems in the New Sweatshops, Center for Economic Performance, London School of Economics" 1998
• 19 Buchanan, R, "Gender on the Line: Technology, Restructuring and the Reorganization of Work in the Call Center Industry Status of Women Canada" 2000
• 20 McKinlay, A, "Foucault and Politics of Production" London: Sage 1998
• 21 Batt, R, "Explaining Wage Inequalty in Telecommunications Services: Customer Segmentation, Human Resource Practices, and Union Decline" 54 (54): 2001
• 22 Katz, H, "ConvergingDivergences: Worldwide Changes in Employment Systems" Ithaca: Cornell University Press 1999
• 23 Arzbacher, S, "Call Centers: Constructing Flexibility" Burlington: Ashgate 2002
• 24 Frenkel, S, "Beyond Bureaucracy? Work Organization in Call Centers" 9 (9): 1998
• 25 Taylor, P, "An ‘Assembly Line in the Head’: the Call Centre Labour Process" 30 (30): 1999
• 26 Keltner, B, "Adding Value in Banking: an Innovative Human Resource Strategy" 38 (38): 1996